Janet Laurie Perlman is a Canadian animator and children's book author and illustrator whose work includes the short film '' The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin'', which was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

at the

54th Academy Awards The 54th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1981 and took place on March 29, 1982, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMP ...

and received a

Parents' Choice Award The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

. Her 13 short films have received 60 awards to date. She was married to the late animation producer

Derek Lamb Derek Reginald Lamb (20 June 1936 – 5 November 2005) was a British animation filmmaker and producer. While serving as executive producer of the National Film Board of Canada's English Animation Studio from 1976 to 1982, he produced the Oscar-win ...

. After working with Lamb at the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

in the 1980s, they formed their own production company, Lamb-Perlman Productions. She is currently a partner in Hulascope Studio, based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Perlman has produced animation segments for ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' and ''

NOVA A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

''. Working with Lamb, she produced

title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...

s for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''

Mystery! ''Mystery!'' is an anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States. The series was created as a mystery, police and crime drama spin-off of the PBS show ''Masterpiece Theatre''. From 1980 to 2007, ''Mystery!' ...

'', based on the artwork of

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Awards, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for book ...

, and was one of the animators for R. O. Blechman's adaptation of ''

The Soldier's Tale ', or ''Tale of the Soldier'' (as it was first published), is an hour-long 1918 theatrical work to be "read, played and danced ''()''" by three actors, one or more dancers, and a septet of instruments. Its music is by Igor Stravinsky, its librett ...

'' for PBS's ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member statio ...

''. She has also taught animation at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

and

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

. She and Lamb were divorced but remained creative and business partners until his death in 2005.

Penguin-related projects

Perlman has created several films and books with

penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

characters. Her short film ''The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin'' was adapted as the children's book ''Cinderella Penguin''. Her satirical

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

''Penguins Behind Bars'' was adapted as a 2003 Hulascope/NFB animated short of the same name, which received four awards including the Platinum Award for Independent Short Subject at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. The short aired on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

, Cartoon Network's late night programming block, in 2003, but was not made into a full series. She has also written and illustrated the books ''The Emperor Penguin's New Clothes'' and ''The Penguin and the Pea''.

National Film Board of Canada

In addition to ''The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin'' and '' Penguins Behind Bars'', Perlman's NFB credits include the 1976 animated short ''Lady Fishbourne's Complete Guide to Better Table Manners'', winner of first prize in the instructional films category at the Ottawa International Film Festival, and the 2005 short ''Invasion of the Space Lobsters'', a co-production of the NFB with the

Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC ( or ), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian trade union, labour unions are affiliated. History Formation The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, thro ...

, which is a "tongue-in-cheek look at doublespeak and bafflegab." She was an animator on ''The Hottest Show on Earth'' (1977) and co-directed '' Why Me?'' with Derek Lamb (1978), and the 2014 short film ''Monsieur Pug'', and contributed animation work to Alison Snowden and David Fine's Oscar-winning NFB co-produced short ''

Bob's Birthday ''Bob's Birthday'' is a 1993 Canadian-British animated short by Alison Snowden and David Fine, winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 67th Academy Awards, and serves as the pilot to the animated series ''Bob and Marga ...

''.

''ShowPeace'' Series

While at the NFB, Perlman developed the ''ShowPeace'' animation series

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

, including her short film '' Bully Dance'', which received thirteen awards, including the Award for Best Animated Short Film from the Children's Jury and the Grand Prix de Montréal for Best Short Film at the Festival International du film pour enfants and First Prize in short film & video animation in recognition of outstanding achievement in children's media from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Another of Perlman's films for the series, '' Dinner for Two'', received a dozen awards including a Grand Prix des Amériques at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

. ''Dinner for Two'' was later adapted by Perlman as the book ''The Delicious Bug''.

Hulascope Studio

With film composer and former NFB colleague Judith Gruber-Stitzer, Perlman formed Hulascope Studio to produce animated projects for television. ''Penguins Behind Bars'', a parody of the

women in prison film The women-in-prison film (or WiP film) is a subgenre of exploitation film that began in the early 20th century and continues to the present day. Their stories feature imprisoned women who are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, typically by ...

s of the 1950s, was co-produced by Hulascope and the NFB for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

, and co-written by Perlman with Derek Lamb.

Other works

Perlman's latest film, originally entitled ''Llama Cookin'', which was entered into the

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized b ...

before it even existed. With the film due at the festival in just two weeks, Perlman quickly assembled ''Llama Cookin'' with animation outtakes from her computer. Unhappy with the results, she tried to withdraw the film from the festival online but couldn't figure out how to do so. So she changed the title of the film to ''Sorry Film Not Ready'' in the online entry form, hoping festival organizers would get the message. But when the two-week deadline came, Perlman received a notification that they had yet to receive a film entitled ''Sorry Film Not Ready'' and were extending the deadline. So Perlman completed a one-minute film under the title ''Sorry Film Not Ready'' and it was accepted by the Ottawa festival. At the 1994 Ottawa International Animation Festival, Perlman's short ''My Favourite Things That I Love'' proved popular but confusing to the audience, and the jury awarded her a tongue-in-cheek "Best Bad Taste Award" for the film. The film then went on to receive a "Most Horrible Music Award" from the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

References

External links

*
Watch Janet Perlman's NFB works onlineHulascope biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perlman, Janet 1954 births Living people Canadian women film directors Canadian illustrators Canadian women children's book illustrators Canadian children's book illustrators Canadian children's writers Canadian women children's writers National Film Board of Canada people Artists from Montreal Film directors from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Canadian animated film directors Women animated film directors Canadian animated film producers Animation educators Rhode Island School of Design faculty Harvard University faculty Academic staff of Concordia University Canadian graphic novelists Film and television title designers Canadian women animators Canadian female comics writers Canadian women production designers Canadian production designers Novelists from Montreal